TW: Miscarriage. Also this isn't my canon in my BB world. I was just exploring this idea


"Are you okay?"

Linda jumped in the dark bathroom, her heart rate heightening. "Don't do that!" Her voice was raw.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Danny knelt behind his wife. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, then stopped, closing her eyes. The movement only increased her headache and nausea. "Jus' a bug."

"You sure? You've been puking for days."

"I'm sure." She bowed her head over the bowl as she threw up once again. She felt little comfort from Danny's hand rubbing her back.

"I can call in sick tomorrow, see if-" he didn't get to finish as he heard a high pitched wail from the other room.

Linda groaned, "can you..."

"Yeah." He placed a kiss on her head, "I'll be back."

She smiled weakly, the exhaustion of being sick rolling over her. She wondered what germ she could have gotten the last few days. Maybe someone brought a foreign germ into the hospital? She thought it was maybe the flu, but it was far from flu season, so that couldn't be it.

Linda swallowed, pulled her knees closer to the toilet. Slowly she stood up, and slumped into the bedroom with some stumbling. She pulled the covers to the bed up to her chin. When she felt the bed dip, she asked, "what was wrong with Jack?"

"He dropped his octopus out of his crib."

Linda couldn't help but laugh, "I can't believe how much he loves that ugly thing."

Jack's octopus was found in a lonely pin at a bargain store, and he had picked it up when Linda wasn't watching for a moment. She bought it several months ago (because even at eight months, Jack had those Reagan Puppy Eyes. And she wasn't made of stone!) and the baby loved it beyond belief.

Danny shrugged, pulled Linda's back to his chest. "Why don't you try to sleep? It might help with the nausea."

"Hopefully."


"It comes and goes, y'know?" Linda was trying to force down a small cup of apple sauce a day later. Danny was at work, and Erin had come over for lunch. "I'll be totally fine, and then boom! Vomit city." She put her elbow on the table and her head in her hand. "And I'm so exhausted, but I can't sleep hardly at all."

Erin was too quiet for her liking. The look on the brunette's face wasn't helping ease Linda's nerves either.

"What are you thinking?"

"You have really bad periods."

"Yeah? So? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Sometimes you throw up during that time."

"Erin, you don't think I'd know when my period comes? Everyone who looks at me can tell! And besides, I'm not bleeding."

"And..."

"And..?"

"And when was your last period?"

Linda tried to remember as she swallowed the spoonful of apple sauce. When the heck was it? It was irregular, even after having a baby and being pregnant twice. "I... I can't remember. Hold on." She stood up and walked to the wall calendar. She was supposed to have one at the beginning of April (she remembered this because she had had her period at her friend's birthday party and had been utterly miserable). It was now May seventeenth. "March."

"You know what that means."

"Can you go to the store for me?"


Linda chewed her lip as she did her normal morning routine. Her heart was pounding the whole time she waited for Erin to come back from the store. She was just putting Jack in his bouncer when Erin came through the door.

"Okay, I got a few different tests. This one is-"

Linda grabbed the bag, not caring which was which. "I'll try them all!"

Erin smirked as Linda ran to the powder room. She looked to Jack, "your Mom's crazy, you know that?"

Linda did all the tests, marking how long it would take for all of them to be completed. She sat on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest. She knew she and Danny wanted another kid, but they had both agreed to wait until Jack was at least two to start to trying for another one. Now was just to soon- Jack wasn't even one!

Erin came in the bathroom with Jack in her arms, "are they finished?"

"Almost... Jack's not even one, Erin! He's only seven months old!"

"You guys didn't waste any time, did you?"

Linda groaned, not needing jokes or sarcasm. The timer she had set blared, making her jump. She looked up to Erin, "I can't look." She heard Erin gathering the tests, then silence, and more shuffling.

"Well... They're all the same."

Whatever it was, it was probably right. "What do they say?"

She placed a test in Linda's hand, watching her look at the stick with worry.

"They're all the same?"

Erin hesitated for a moment, "they're all positive."

Linda just looked back at the test, her expression unreadable as her hair fell in from if her face.

"Linda?"

She gripped the test, brought it to her chest. "Erin, if you could please go..."

She frowned, not expecting that reaction. "Linda, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Okay," Erin's voice had hesitancy in it. "I'll... see you later, I guess."

"Yeah," her voice was tight and quiet.


"Hey, babe," Danny kissed her hello after work that day. He pushed her hair back, resting his hand on her forehead. "Feelin' any better?"

"No."

"I'm sorry to hear that." He walked into the kitchen.

"Danny?" Linda stood up and walked to the side of the couch.

"Want a drink?" He reached in the fridge and grabbed a bear.

"Danny... I have something to tell you."

When she didn't say anything, he walked into the family room. "What's wrong?"

"Danny... I'm... pregnant."

"You're... that's why— you weren't sick, you're pregnant."

"Yeah..." when he didn't say anything for a few minutes, Linda felt like she wanted to barf. "Danny, please say something."

"Jack's not... how the hell are we gonna afford a baby?" He sunk to the couch cushions. "We can just afford Jack. We can't even afford ourselves!"

"I know, it's bad timing." She sat down next to him, a pregnant silence swallowing her up. "We said we wanted another baby. We both really want this." She looked over to Danny, "so why am I not over the moon? Why aren't I jumping with joy?"

"I don't know. How... how pregnant are you?"

"Not very. Enough to show on a test."

Danny stood up, started to pace, trying to figure out what to do. He knew Linda wouldn't get rid of the baby- they had gone through that conversation when she was pregnant with Jack.

"There's no way we can afford this baby, there's just no way. We just put a down payment on the new car, Jack's doctor bills are through the roof. We're barely making ends meet. How- how are we-" Linda started to cry, frustrated with their situation.

Danny sat next to her and hugged her fiercely, "we'll figure something out. I'll take some extra tours or... something, I don't know. But we're gonna make it through."


A month and a half later, Linda was sick in bed. She still didn't know how they were going to be able to raise this baby. She had gone over bills over and over again, trying to find someway for fudging. She had found nothing- except not eating out and waiting to buy clothes- but that would only work for a month or two.

This particular day, she was very depressed, and she wasn't sure why. She had pains in her stomach and lower back, something she had experienced all throughout her pregnancy with Jack, so she thought nothing of it.

She felt her throat tightening, the vomit coming up. She tried to force it down, force it away, but it persisted. She forced herself into the bathroom, and didn't throw up. She started to worry a little when she suddenly felt dizzy and weak. She pathetically lowered herself to the floor, clutching her slightly swollen stomach. As she laid on the bathroom floor, she was steadily growing concerned. Her tears flowed freely, and she knew something was wrong.


Linda managed to get herself up and to the emergency room. She was probably overreacting, but something didn't feel right. The nurses were nice to her (because she had driven all the way to King's General where she worked), and she felt a little at ease. That was until the test was done.


How was she going to tell Danny...? How was she going to be okay again?

She jumped when the door opened that evening.

"Hey, babe." Danny came up to her and kissed her lips. He noticed immediately that something was wrong. "Linda?" He kneeled in front of her as she bowed her head and started crying. "Honey, what's wrong?"

"There... there's no- no baby."

"No ba- what are you talking about?" He had a sinking feeling in his gut that something wasn't right.

"I... l- lost the- the baby."

His face fell, "what?"

"The baby..." she choked on a sob. "I had a miscarriage!"

Now it was Danny's turn to feel sick. He had no idea what to say. "Honey..." he pulled her into a strong hug.

For the next few months, Linda and Danny were quiet and forlorn. The family never knew (nor ever would know) about the little baby. Linda swore she didn't want another baby after that one, afraid of what could happen.